


Floorboards & Footprints

by UnholyHelbig



Series: Pitch Perfect Horror Week [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Horror AU, cabin in the woods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 23:37:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnholyHelbig/pseuds/UnholyHelbig
Summary: Beca wakes up to find Aubrey gone, but not for long.( This is my entry for Pitch Perfect Horror Week, Day Two.)





	Floorboards & Footprints

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, hear me out. I did have a day one planned but life got busy and I made a video edit instead.

**The fire crackled,**  sucking away the only coolness that the stone fireplace offered. It was unsure of itself, seeping through the logs and caving out the middle of the wood. It emitted a heated scent; one that reminded Beca of the one camp she went to as a child.

She had taken a white church bus with obnoxious blue cursive on the side. There were only twelve seats in total, six on either side. Not many kids had been signed up to travel three hours through Maine to get to a little get-away for only five days.

During those five days, she had been hit in the stomach with the pit of an ore, got at least thirteen bug bites, and just nearly escaped a runaway arrow that almost shot its way through her eye. She hated camp. She hated the preachy sermons that she sat through, and her bunk mate that silently ate the teenage counselors face off like a flesh-hungry zombie.

When Aubrey suggested they actually spend winter break away from the world at a tiny little cabin, she immediately hated the idea. But it seemed like a better alternative than heading home for the holidays. She wasn’t sure if she could handle the late nights with her father tilting his head back and emptying a bottle of buttery alcohol. Her stepmother retiring to her room early like the drinking didn’t bother her as much as it did.

Her girlfriend didn’t mention the idea of heading home herself; her father not making an effort to come home for the holidays. Her own brothers conspiring for celebration in their own family homes. If it bothered her, she didn’t show it, instead pouring herself into creating a perfect weekend getaway.

Beca curled into Aubrey. Despite the heat of the fire, the cold still found a way past her clothes. Her nose was buried in the nave of Aubrey’s neck, breathing in her floral scent as the older woman stroked her hair patiently. It was a loving and tender gesture that Beca was quick to melt into after months of realizing feelings and pulling one another close.

It was an intimate edge of domestic life that Beca didn’t realize she craved. Her arm slung over Aubrey’s mid-section as a checkered blanket covered both of them. The cabin furnished with a rustic charm. The type of cabin that you could only imagine as a happy place; windows fogging as the heat met brutal cold. An imaginary dog curled up on the fur rug that nearly sparkled against the hazy fire.

“This is nice.” Beca decided in a breathy sigh, cuddling deeper into her girlfriend's embrace.

Aubrey let out a bit of a hum in return. She was admittedly content too, turning as she placed a small but affectionate kiss on Beca’s forehead. She felt drowsy herself, listening to her breath deepening as the two of them drifted off into a calm and collected sleep.

 **Beca awoke with** a start, the air bitterly cold and humid all at once. The fire must have gone out, that signature sound not lulling her back into rest but instead lacking completely. The second thing she noticed was how stiff she was- neck plagued with a crick that brought icy fingers to her neck. The room was dark.

She was curled up on one end of the leather couch, the blanket having flung onto the floor at some point during sleep. Beca blinked a few times, dragging her hand down her face as she stared around the room; Aubrey wasn’t anywhere to be seen.  

Beca licked her lips. They were dry and cracked, almost tasting metallic like blood. She pulled herself up shaking away the rest of exhaustion. Her breath was visible in the air, her throat raw and torn.  _God damn it, Mitchell._ She cursed herself for falling asleep in the first place. If Aubrey had gone into the one separate room the cabin had to offer, she would have scooped her up and curled into her like they usually did when she fell asleep during movie nights.

Her socked feet were loud against the wooden floor, long creaks ripping against the silence as if someone had pried them up and reapplied them to the frame sloppily. She didn’t bother cringing away. There was no one to unsettle.

Instead, she wondered to the kitchen, fishing for one of the mismatched mugs that were housed in the cabinet.  _‘You’re the bee’s Knee’s.’_   The one she grabbed, read. An audible scoff fell from her lips. It reminded her of a certain redhead that would have that embroidered onto a few pillows in a golden thread fit for a king.

She filled the mug with cool well water, steam close to balancing off the liquid itself. It burned as it passed her lips. Dripping down her chin as she hungrily gulped it down letting the water cling to the collar of her college logoed sweatshirt.

“Thirsty?”

The mug fell to the floor as Beca coughed on water. She flicked her eyes up quickly. Neither woman flinched as the glass shattered into a million pieces. It ruined the cute little saying and chip the wings off the cute cartoon bee. “Jesus Christ, Bree.” Her hand had found a way to her chest, trying to still her pounding heart.

Aubrey lifted a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, the ghost of a smirk on her lips “Should I start wearing a bell, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” Beca let out a sound that was a mix between a snort and scoff. Aubrey had her position at the edge of the counter. Not exactly narrowing her eyes but holding them at an odd angle that looked nearly curious like a cat following a mouse. The light from the moon shaded her features. “I didn’t see you when I woke up.”

“You looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to stir you. I heard a noise.”

Beca furrowed her brow and glanced past the foggy window that rested above the kitchen sink. There was a thick coat of snow covering the ground in pristine white. None of it was disturbed. Trees resting 30 feet beyond the cabin walls. There was nothing but inky black behind the initial wall of bark.

“What kind of noise?”

“Howling, it was just the wind.”

Beca nodded softly, sleep still on her mind. The fire must have blown out the second Aubrey opened and closed the cabin door. It left in them in a stark cold that made Beca fold into herself, pulling her sleeves past her wrists.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Huh?” She glanced down at her feet. Fuck. The glass had dug evenly into the side of her foot, an angry crimson dripping onto the hardwood floor. Usually, Aubrey would have been beside herself; if not for the ugly mess, then for the safety of Beca. A normally protective woman stood rigidly, swallowing thickly as she refused to stare anywhere but at the large rafters that littered the ceiling. “I didn’t notice.”

“You should clean that.” Aubrey’s voice was husky, she took a step back, almost cautious. “We’re out of firewood, I’ll be back.”

A noise escaped Beca’s throat.  _It’s the middle of the night, Aubrey._ She could have said  _what if that noise wasn’t the just the wind?_ Instead, she stayed silent. Partly in shock as she flexed her toes and winced. It burned. Aubrey had walked out the door, a flannel covering a tank top and a pair of fuzz lined boots with sweatpants tucked into them. Not exactly the warmest. Beca watched as Aubrey stalked into the woods.

Beca operated on impulse decisions. Her mind buzzing oddly as she hobbled over to the front door. Her fingers moist with blood as she painfully slid on her own boots, forgetting the socks. She slid Aubrey’s jacket on, the woman having evaded it completely.

The snow caved under her first step, movements making her wince for a few paces before she got used the splayed feeling of the cut on her foot. Her eyes begged to trace the prints left in the snow by Aubrey. There were none.

Her breath hitched, but she continued against the slowly deadening wind. She pulled the collar of the jacket over her face, trying to block out the cold as she walked away from the safety of the Cabin’s yard and into the cool darkness of the forest. Still no footprints.

“Aubrey?” Her voice was a low whisper. It sounded deafening in the quiet.

She walked a few feet, ducking under low hanging branches made even lower by the snow piled on the slim limbs. Thorns tore at the fabric of her jacket. She had no idea where she was heading, the floral scent of Aubrey’s perfume on her clothes overwhelming and forging some form of comfort.

A dark form was crouched in front of her. A blob in the horrid darkness. Beca found herself ducking low, hugging the side of the tree as she purposely hitched her breath in her throat. Aubrey shifted her shoulders in an inhuman way. They cracked like broken twigs under a boot tip. A low snarl breaking through the air.

Beca clenched her eyes shut for a moment. Was this Aubrey? It couldn’t’ be. It carried such a primal and unforgiving nature. One that the DJ had convinced her girlfriend carried when she first allowed her into the Bella’s their freshmen year. But this? This was angry, and the air reminded her of the color red.

No, those were eyes. Eyes that cut through the center of the figure and were trained directly on Beca. They were brighter than the blood that soaked into her boot and meaner than Beca had ever seen. Fully unblinking, fully cloaked as snow began to trickle from the air as it found its way through the trees.

She ran.

Aubrey, the beast, whatever it truly was, nipped at her heels, moving with such unimaginable speed. Beca was a wounded animal that had nothing more than the sickly scent of blood attached to her and the allure of a quickening heartbeat that she wished she could hide under the floorboards.

It dragged her to the forest floor, breath escaping her as her ribs came in stark contact with the rocky ground. Her hands- Its hands; were clawed and digging roughly into her skin. Beca hissed as she flipped herself over, trying to edge her foot somewhere under the creature so she could kick it off.

It wore Aubrey’s clothes, but they were torn and tattered. It carried Aubrey’s physical nature and slowly morphed features but had dripping fangs the same exact color as that stupid mug that broke in the cabin’s kitchen. It was coming at her throat, mixing primal animal growls with dripping drool.  

Beca let out a yell of pain as she struggled to hold her arm up enough to block the teeth of the beast. Their pointed ends dug into her forearm with an ungodly crunch, pushing past tendons and dying yellowed teeth with a crimson brine. It’s claws stinging as it thrashed easily, nails starting at Beca’s collarbone and dragging in four even leans down to the tip of her stomach. She cried in distress- letting out a bark of anger as she finally got enough of a hook to kick the creature away from her.

Beca used her impulse, dashing to her feet as adrenaline coursed through her veins. She sprinted, not bothering to dodge away from the low hanging branches or a slippery mix of mud and leaves carved in ice.

She dropped to her knees in a clumsy fall once she burst through the edge of woods, yelping as she cradled her wounded arm against her stomach. She didn’t’ stop- rushing onto the porch and into the golden light of the porch lamp. It was a small circle, her back resting against the side of the cabin as her legs buzzed on separated steps. Breath thick in the air as she scanned her eyes near the perimeter of the woods.

Two rose colored orbs peered at her for a few moments before clouding away. It was gone, whatever it was had left the battle for the safety of the woods. A safety that Beca so desperately wanted to feel herself.

“Oh my god, Beca!” she didn’t realize that the door had opened. Aubrey disregarding the cold as she dropped to her knees on the snow-coated deck. Beca flinched away, letting out a mix between a cough and a pained exclaim. Aubrey was dressed in flannel pants and a long sleeve shirt that was Beca’s. It looked tight on her, but comfortable. She looked undeniably like her.

“Y-you did this to me,” Beca croaked out, voice hot as blood continued to soak through her clothes. Warming her and chilling her all at once.

Aubrey held her hands in the air like she wanted to comfort her girlfriend. Pull her in close and make sure she was okay. But Beca had folded into herself. Cradling a wounded arm between knees pulled up to her chest. She decided to talk her down.

“Sweetie, you were asleep on the couch,” Aubrey tried “I didn’t’ want to wake you, so I went to change but by the time I got back you were gone.” She swallowed thickly “There was a broken mug on the floor.”

Beca blinked dumbly. She hadn’t checked the room, why would she? Aubrey had appeared so easily in front of her being the complete opposite of who she had fallen in love with. Alluring enough to pull her into the forest. A tricky creature that used a weakness and a strength all at once. Aubrey would never leave a broken mug on the floor, she would never go out in the middle of the night for firewood.

Beca let a sob rock through her body as she allowed Aubrey to carefully pull her into a soft embrace, not wanting to hurt the woman. Everything stung, her eyes burning as the beginning of a sunrise turned a dark night into a rain filled day. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed in that position before Aubrey said something, she wasn’t quite sure, about calling an ambulance.

She nodded, fingers still curled into Aubrey’s shirt as she stared out at the large expanse of snow that covered deadened grass. There were no footprints. 


End file.
